1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the seismic data acquisition process and, more particularly, to a system for quality control oversight of at least the acquisition, geodetic, processing and HSE (health, safety, environment) portions of the seismic projects.
2. Description of the Background
Due the complexity and typically remote logistics of seismic operations, the quality control (QC) industry for seismic projects has long faced problems that prevent total and effective quality control. Seismic operations tend to involve many differently skilled people, complex equipment, and long distance logistical problems in projects intended to produce extensive electronic measurements, which normally require a considerable period of time and are often performed at highly remote locations.
The QC personnel who monitor the seismic operations are therefore often remotely based, making consistent evaluation of their actual productivity quite difficult. QC personnel have varying levels of experience that can lead to ineffective field practices. Quality report generation takes considerable time and can result in the choice to either reduce the inspection time or produce poor or less complete reports. Lack of uniform procedures can result in less reliable data and a greater chance for errors. Lack of consistent reports leads to less effective management.
The following patents show prior art efforts toward solving the above problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,828 issued Jul. 6, 1999, to Norris, et al, discloses an automated quality control system for processing geophysical seismic data and positioning data from a marine navigation system. The invention includes a prospect data logger in communication with system components for accessing the seismic data, for coordinating seismic data processing, and for identifying and storing attribute data relevant to the seismic data and the positioning data. The prospect data logger is capable of storing data in a programmed format, and can be engaged with a display for illustrating data accessible to the prospect data logger. The prospect data logger is capable of automatically performing quality control functions such as checking seismic data and positioning data, of verifying the format of merged seismic and positioning data, of generating a command for indicating an event or for controlling another system component. The prospect data logger can verify storage tape quality immediately after data is inputted, and a record of events can be generated. Raw seismic data and positioning data is contemporaneously merged, the merged data can be monitored on a real-time basis, and data processing and quality control can be performed from remote terminals. The system uniquely provides real-time quality control operations sufficient to variables and events so that immediate system corrections can be made.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0234585, published Sep. 17, 2009, to Ross et al, discloses a system and method for using satellite communications satellites to control and receive data from a land cableless seismic system. The satellite transmission could transmit control signals (e.g. turn on/off) and receive signals from the remote seismograph units (seismic data, quality control parameters, status, location, etc.) which would subsequently be retransmitted to a processing center or other surface facility.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0039936, published Feb. 18, 2010, to Jin et al, discloses systems and methods for quality of service control over multiple accesses, more particularly quality of service control over multiple accesses via enhanced quality of service rules. A policy rules and charging function, or similar network entity, can include an indicator in a set of quality of service rules that instructs an access gateway to either setup the quality of service resources/initiate bearer setup immediately, or store the quality of service rules until a request for the quality of service resources is received.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,697,737, issued Feb. 24, 2004, to Jones et al, discloses attributes of a seismic data set that are indicative of the quality of the seismic data are displayed in a quality control (QC) hypercube. The axes of the hypercube may be the source position, the source line, the receiver position and a processing step. In a pre-migration QC cube, two of the three axes of the cube are defined by the locations of seismic data. In a migrated QC cube, two of the three axes are defined by the migrated output bin position of processed seismic data. The third axis of the cube contains information about the quality of the data. The QC attributes may be simple amplitudes, or they may be attributes derived from the amplitudes of the seismic data, such as RMS values and/or spectral values. In a migrated QC cube, the attributes may include seismic velocity, seismic fold and distribution of source-receiver azimuths.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,655, issued Jan. 4, 1994, to Rialan et al, discloses a method for the automatic association, with seismic signals received by receivers (R1 . . . Rn) distributed on a site to be explored, of topographic data relative to the location of these receivers. The seismic signals are collected and stored by seismic acquisition devices (B1-Bn) which, after each seismic “shooting”, transmit the signals successively to a central station. When the receivers are positioned in the field, each receiver is located by means of radiopositioning of the GPS type for example, and the position indications are introduced into an auxiliary memory of the corresponding acquisition device. After each repatriation of the data of a shooting, the indications are read in this memory and remain associated with those data at the time of the general grouping on the tape recorder of the central station.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,736, issued Aug. 27, 1991, to Darnell et al, discloses a portable locating unit useful both as a cellular telephone and portable global positioning system that provides latitude and longitude information remotely to a base unit display. The system includes a small hand held receiver that receives signals from a satellite global positioning system and timing and computing circuits to provide location information signals. The hand held unit also includes a modem and transmitter to a cellular telephone network which is connected to the base unit computational system and display. The location of an individual or object can thus be determined at the remote station through the use of the cellular telephone network.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,356, issued Mar. 5, 1996, to Norton, Jr. et al, discloses one or more slave acoustic transponders that are secured to selected parts of a seismic bottom cable, whose location is imperfectly known. A master transponder broadcasts an interrogation pulse from each of a number of different, known locations distributed along a line of survey. In response to an interrogation pulse, a slave transponder emits an encoded signal that is received by the master transponder. The acoustic flight time between each pulse broadcast and encoded-signal reception constitutes a range measurement to the participating slave transponder.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,634,598, issued Dec. 15, 2009, to Kim et al discloses a dynamic system and method for managing facility services that utilize scheduled predefined events and/or unscheduled variable events, are discussed. The dynamic system can include one or more servers, mobile devices, imaging devices, etc. designed and programmed to receive, manage, control, and/or report events from designated users. The dynamic system effectively manages the flow of work, efficiency of work and quality of work, and provides a common platform for communications within organizations, with their customers, and suppliers.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0053075, published Mar. 9, 2006, to Roth et al, discloses a system for authorizing access to an asset including a user interface for presenting to a user a checklist of items, a data acquisition device capable of receiving user responses to the checklist of items, and a processor connected to the data acquisition device selectively evaluating user responses to the items and preventing the user from accessing the asset if the user responses to the checklist of items are not satisfactory.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,069, issued Nov. 22, 1988, to Beauducel et al, discloses a two stage, decentralized device for transmitting seismic data information from seismic receivers of a seismic streamer to a central recorder on a ship, including a series of interconnected sections each having a plurality of seismic receivers distributed over it's length, seismic signal acquisition apparatus for digitizing and storing seismic signals coming from a group of seismic receivers to which a respective seismic signal acquisition apparatus is connected, central control and recording device on the ship and assembly of electronic modules each disposed in the vicinity of a seismic receiver and being capable of amplifying and filtering the seismic receiver signals.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,901,028, issued May 31, 2005, to Clayton et al, discloses a graphical user interface (GUI) and control system for marine seismic data acquisition along with a method of real-time quality control of the seismic survey. The control system includes real-time data processing of individual source near-field measured signals and concurrent synthesis of array far-field signatures. The control system determines individual source out-of-specification conditions and computes far-field signatures based on an array configuration excluding the failed source. Source, array, and troubleshooting information are presented to a user in real-time over a GUI monitor to allow informed decision-making regarding continued and/or modified survey operations and operational parameters.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,023, issued May 22, 2007, to Laurent et al, discloses a method of processing seismic data that comprises identifying the value of a first parameter associated with an event in a first set of seismic data. The value of a second parameter associated with a corresponding event in a second set of seismic data is then obtained using at least one look-up table. The first parameter may be PP travel time with the first data set being a raw PP data set, and the second parameter may be PS travel time with the second data set being a raw PS data set or reflection depth. The invention makes it possible to identify pairs of corresponding PP and PS events in raw data traces. The look-up table(s) are obtained using an assumed model for the velocity of propagation of acoustic energy within the earth. The results of the method may be used in quality control, or to correct the velocity model.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,462, issued Jan. 18, 2000, to Schneider, Jr. et al, discloses computer-implemented methods of processing seismic data that are subjected to quantitative evaluation by a computerized testing procedure. The effect of the data processing software under evaluation on attributes of the seismic data is measured and statistically evaluated. The effect of various user-selectable processing parameters of the software under evaluation is also measured and statistically evaluated. To evaluate the software effect on attributes, an attribute of known content represented by seismic data is selected. The seismic data represented by that attribute is processed by the processing software under evaluation. A test measure of the attribute is recomputed as indicated by the results of the processing. A quantitative statistical analysis of the similarities of the two attributes is then performed. For quality control of parameter estimates, a parameter-sweep test is performed on original data containing known events. An attribute is computed for both the original data and the parameter-sweep test results. Again, quantitative statistical measures of the similarities between the attributes are formed for evaluation purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,129, issued May 30, 2000, to Grouffal et al, discloses transmission to a remote station, by means of transmission channels (generally radio transmission channels), of seismic data acquired by a data collection equipment comprising a plurality of acquisition units, each being suited to acquire, to store and preferably to compress the data to be transmitted. The invention comprises ordered storage, in a high-capacity memory (flash type memory for example) of each acquisition unit (Ai), of data obtained during successive emission-reception cycles (acquired and possibly preprocessed seismic data) so as to form a stream of stored data to be transmitted, and progressive transfer of the stored data stream from each acquisition unit to the remote station by means of the transmission channel, by reading each storage memory, with a time lag in relation to the time of their storage depending on the transmission rate of each transmission channel and on the transmission mode selected with preferably, if sending of the data of a cycle is delayed, sending of at least partial data, compressed or not, for quality control purposes. The data transmitted are reconstituted at the remote station. The method can be used for large-scale seismic data transmission.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,149,629, issued Dec. 12, 2006, to Scherzinger et al, discloses a land surveyor system with reprocessing is carried by a surveyor moving from a first known position at the start of a survey interval to a second known position at the end of the survey interval has an AINS (aided inertial navigation system) that provides a continuing sequence of time-indexed present position values. A position computing system uses a program that stores the sequence of time-indexed present position values in a memory. A reprocessing computer and program is activated at the second known position to access and process the continuing sequence of time-indexed present position values with a smoothing program to provide indexed and adjusted present position values for at least some of the time-indexed present position values. The system is packaged for transport and use by a surveyor. A switch permits the surveyor to signal that the unit is stationary.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,663,973, issued Feb. 16, 2010, to Chamberlain, discloses a seismic survey system having remote acquisition modules (RAMs) for acquiring seismic signals and communicating with a central recording system (CRU) via a network of cables, other RAMs, and line tap units (LTUs), arranged in a matrix of receiver lines and base lines. Each RAM cyclically converts analog signal values to digital, forming data packets. Interrogation commands emanating from the CRU and relayed with strategic delays by intervening LTUs and RAMs are received by the RAM. Each command causes the RAM to transmit a data packet. Strategic delays are set such that the transmission capacity of the line is best utilized. Power and frequency of transmission are selectable by the CRU to optimize performance. Cables contain multiple communication pairs. The network path between the RAM and the CRU is established from the CRU and altered in event of malfunction. All types of network elements are interconnectable. Recorded samples are synchronous.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,668,657, issued Feb. 23, 2010, to Fenton, discloses a system for determining positions of fixed-position GPS receivers that have restricted views of the sky. The system includes a data recording and control center, and one or more base GPS receivers with associated antennas with a substantially unrestricted views of the sky. The system batch processes range information provided by the fixed-position GPS receivers over an extended period of time; determining which of the range data from the fixed-position receivers are valid, and using the valid range data to determine position. In this way, the precise positions of the respective fixed-position slave GPS receivers can be calculated, even if the fixed-position GPS receivers are able to observe and collect data from sets of two or more satellites for only three or four relatively short time intervals at various sky positions during the extended period.
International patent publication WO 2008/103225, published Aug. 28, 2008, to Trig-Point Solutions LLC, discloses an asset tracking and maintenance scheduling and verification system for coordinating preventative or periodic maintenance activities for a collection of assets. A system server is responsible for maintenance of an asset database including a database record for each asset identifying tracking and maintenance information for the asset. The system server generates task lists for assets based at least in part upon data stored in the database. One or more remote handheld devices are in selective communication with the system server to receive the task lists, whereupon a user in possession of a handheld device is directed to perform a series of tasks on one or more assets. In the course of performing such tasks, a user inputs task-related information that is subsequently uploaded to the system server and incorporated into the database, such that subsequent task lists generated by the system server will reflect previous performance tasks.
The above cited art does not provide solutions to the above listed problems. Those skilled in the art have long sought and will appreciate the present invention that addresses these and other problems.